Dana White: ‘Maybe We Do Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre In Toronto’

While the Silva vs Leites UFC middleweight title fight has left a bad taste in the majority of mixed martial arts fans’ mouths, including Dana White’s, the UFC has no choice but to find exciting match-ups for their middleweight champ to help rebuild his image.

“I’m focused on Toronto now,” White said. “I want to do a big event in Toronto. And who knows? Like I said, I don’t like to look past guys. Everybody who fights in the UFC is tough. (But) if Georges St. Pierre could get through Thiago Alves, who knows? Maybe we do Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre in Toronto.”

Dana wants to make it clear though, and rightfully so, that Alves is not an opponent to be overlooked.

“Do not overlook Thiago Alves,” White said. “This guy is mean and nasty, and that’s going to be a very, very hard fight for him. Georges St. Pierre can’t start looking at Anderson Silva until he gets past Thiago Alves.

“Really, listen to me, guys. Alves is a very, very tough kid. Don’t overlook him. … I don’t want to concentrate on Silva (vs.) St. Pierre until he can prove he can get by Alves.”

Obviously, as Dana said, quite a few things need to happen before this fight could take place, including getting mixed martial sanctioned in Toronto if they plan to put it on there, but for argument’s sake, let’s assume everything pans out for a second.

I have no idea what’s going on with Anderson, but it was clear to me during my intial viewing of the fight, and still today, that at least in the final two rounds, he cared more about showboating than trying to finish the fight. Seriously, how else do interpret these moves Anderson was attempting?

If Anderson needs an opponent who will actually challenge him, and won’t flop to his back more times than Dana drops the f-bomb in a five minute span, I’m not sure you’ll find a better opponent than Georges St. Pierre. Anderson stuffed the majority of Leites’ takedowns Saturday night, but I don’t see him doing the same against GSP. I’m not sure who would win it, but I’d bet everything I have that GSP wouldn’t give Silva the breathing room to dance around and make a fool out of him.

The fans were chanting “GSP! GSP! GSP!” Why not give them what they want? Book it in Toronto, and market Silva as the bad guy. Right now, it’s their best bet to making the casual audience care about watching Anderson Silva fight again, if they ever really cared before.